NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) – The U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) has filed a complaint against Bob Dean, the former nursing home owner who evacuated more than 840 residents to a Tangipahoa Parish warehouse after Hurricane Ida in 2021.
The warehouse was not equipped to care for those residents, and several died. The federal complaint accuses Dean of misappropriating one million dollars in federal money that was intended to make the warehouse a suitable shelter.
“Rather than using the funds to prepare the warehouse for a hurricane,” according to the DOJ report, “(Dean) funneled much of that money to his personal bank accounts.”
According to the complaint, once residents arrived at the warehouse, “sanitation was not maintained, and the nursing homes’ staff did not prepare sufficient food, provide wound care, or ensure adequate medical care and support for the residents.”
The Louisiana Health Department ultimately removed the residents from the warehouse and stripped Dean of ownership of his four nursing homes.
But the federal complaint says Dean continued to misallocate funds. The DOJ alleges that Dean “directed his bookkeeper to sweep all of the nursing homes’ bank accounts and transfer the millions of dollars of funds to his personal accounts.”
The complaint alleges that Dean spent the money on “antiques, firearms, and cars,” along with other expenditures.
In total, Dean is accused of misspending more than four million dollars.